Assessment of Pesticide Residues in Curry Leaf Samples from Guntur, Andhra Pradesh

Fifty-six curry leaf samples from farms in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, India, were analyzed for 49 pesticide residues using LC-MS/MS. Recovery studies were conducted at fortification levels of 0.1, 0.05, and 0.01 mg/kg for each compound, yielding recoveries ranging from 81.0% to 119.0% with relative standard deviations below 19.1%. The method demonstrated good linearity over the range of 0.01–1.0 mg/kg with a correlation coefficient of 0.999. Detection and quantification limits for the pesticides varied from 0.001 mg/kg to 0.05 mg/kg, respectively. The samples contained 29 different compounds, primarily organophosphates (29.6%), followed by synthetic pyrethroids (20.69%), fungicides (13.79%), neonicotinoids (10.34%), herbicides (6.90%), and carbamates (3.45%). Residue levels ranged from 37.78 mg/kg to 0.05 mg/kg. Extensive monitoring of pesticide use in different agro-climatic regions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is recommended to assess the status of pesticide contamination at the farm gate level.